Harvester



L. MILLER' 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

HARVESTER. No. 299,244. Patentedl May 27, 1884.

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HARVESTER. No. 299,244. Patentedv May 27, 1884.

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` EAEVESTEE No. 299,244.` Patentedv May 27, 1884.

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LEVIS MILLER, OF AKRON, OHIO.

HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION'- forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,244-, dated May 27, 1884.

Application filed December 31, 1879.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lewis MILLER, of Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harvesters, and I do hereby declare the following `to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of a machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side clevation of the same; Fig. 3, a top plan view of the main frame; Fig. 4, a front elevation of the same; Fig. 5, a longitudinal vertical section showing the devices for adjusting the platform; Fig. 6, a detached view showing the mode of connecting the raking mechanism to the main frame; Fig. 7, a-bottom plan view of the same; Fig. 8, a section through the wheel-hub, showing the improved pawl; and Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view to show the driving-gear.

Similar letters of reference in figures denote the same parts.

My invention consists in certain novel improvements, which will be first described at length, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, A is the platform; B, the rake mechanism; C, the cutter, D, the tongue; E, the drivers seat; F, the coupling bar which connects the rear end of the platform to the rear end of the main frame; G, the main the several axle; H, the shaft which drives the cutter-bar,

itself being driven from the main axle in any `suitable manner, as by wheels h,- I I, the sup-` porting-wheels, J, the reel-post; K, the endless chain which drives the reel; L, the lever which varies the angle of the tongue with relation to the main frame; C, the rod which connects-the cutter-bar to its driving-shaft; M, the tumbling rod or shaft for driving the rake mechanism; N, the sprocket-chain by which the rod or shaft M is driven from the main axle, and O a foot-lever and clutch for throwing the tumbling-shaft into or out of y gear with its driving mechanism.

R is the reel, mounted upon and revolving with a shaft, It. This shaftis elongated consid- 5o erably more than as heretofore constructed,

in order to accommodate two independentl bearings, o, at such distance apart as to firmly support and brace the shaft and keep it at all times in a line or lines parallel to the plane of the platform. The bearings r are mounted upon a bifurcated lever, S, which is supported upon a bolt, s, passing transversely through the top of the reel -post and through both branches of the forked lever. The lever is thus supported upon two bearings at a considerable distance apart, and with the top 0f the reel-post interposed between its branches, so that in adjusting the reel up and down it can not be racked or bent to bring the reel out of line with the platform. The lever vis adjusted in the usual manner by a curved rack-bar and springdetent, (shown at S.) One ofthe guidepulleys for the chain K may be mounted on the end of the transverse bolt upon which the lever S is pivoted. v This improved` reel-support is equally as light as the old form, and holds the parts much more firmly and rigidly in position. I` make no claim to it, however, herein, as it forms the subject-matter of a divisional application tiled on the 5th day of April, 1884.

Trepresents a frame the main portion of which, T', is cast in tubular form, and extends across under or over the axle from the front to the rear of the machine. The part T is provided with a sleeve or tubular offset, t, through which the axle extends, and with another offset, t', terminating in a flat vertical plate or head, t2, which abuts against and is fastened by bolts or. screws to the outer side of the `yoke D, and embraces the sides and bottom of the draft-tongue D, and in which said tongue, is adjusted. The rear end of the tongue is pivoted between two lugs, t3, cast on the sleeve t. A link, Z, pivoted to the bottom of the yokeD, extends -up through the tongue, and is articulated to the spring detentlever L, vby which the tongue is adjusted. VProvision is made for connecting the front couplingbar, A', to the frame at a, and the rear coupling-bar, F, at a', and the front coupling-bar is braced by a diagonal brace, A3, to support it against backward strains. 'The tool-box t4 is cast on the inner side of the part T andV front of the sleeve in such position thatjits IOO cover will serve'as the drivers foot-rest. The construction of the frame in the form of a long tubular bar pivoted on the main axle by a transverse sleeve, and having the lateral offset t for attachment to the guide-yoke D', is the substantial feature of this part of my invention.

N is a grooved' pulley mounted on the inner side of the yoke D', and having a spring detent hand-lever, N, attached to its upper rear edge. (A chain, a, extends from the upper `front edgefof the pulley down to the front coupling-bar, to which it is connected. An-

. other chain, u', extends from the lower edge of the pulley back over a guide-pulley, al, and thence down to the rear coupling-bar, F, to which it is connected. A backward movement of the hand-lever N thus serves to simultaneously raise the front and rear coupling-bars, and with them the front and rear ends of the platform, thus lifting it evenly and safely without liability to warping or breaking any of the mechanism.

M is a cast-metal hanger arranged transversely under` the rear end of the main frame T, and provided with flanges m m', by which 1t 1s secured to said main frame by screws orbolts as shownfJA forward extension m? is 7 7 7 cast on or near its outer end, to support a friction-pulley, n, which guides the sprocketchain N. At the rear end of the extension m2 an arm, l'n2-extends upward and curves over outward and downward to cover and protect the rear end of the sprocket-chain, and to furnish the rear bearing for the foot-lever O and its shaft, by which the clutch is operated to engage or disengage the tumbling-rod shaft,with its driving mechanism. The mainI portion of the hanger is tubular to receive and furnish a bearing for the outer end or shaft of the tumblingrod. The advantage of this construction is that by removing the two screws which -connect the casting to the main frame the entire support and driving mechanism of the outer end of the tumbling-rod can be at once detached from the machine, they all coming away with the casting, thereby saving the time and labor heretofore involved in removing the parts independently, and that after being thus easily removed they can be as easily and readily reattached. I

W represents the hollow or concave inner end of the hub of the traction-wheel, having ribs or teeth w, and cast on the periphery of the concave; 'and Wv represents a circular plate which fitsinto said concave, it being xed on the axle and provided with a hub to hold it steady. Its .face adjacent to the hub W may be concave, if preferred. The edges of the plates W are slotted, as shown at w', obliquely v to its radius and in a direction inclining forward, or with the direction of the rotary movement of theparts on the axle. With each slot (two, more or less) there is combined a pawl, w, pivoted to the inner face of the plate, and having a spur or arm, w3, adapted to project through the slot, the form of the slot being such as to allow the spur or arm to move freely therein as the pawl swings on its pivot. rIhe inner side (toward the center or shaft) of each pawl is provided with an elongated central hub, wt, terminating in a notch or recess, w. In connection with eachpawl there is employed a flat spring, fu, secured to the same plate, W. Ihe free end of the spring is provided with an angle or projection, n', which bears against the elongated hub w, to hold the pawl in.

engagement with the series of teeth or ribs w.k rIhe parts areso proportioned and adjusted that when the pins or spurs w3 are near the outer end of the slots w the springs e bear against the enlarged part w4 of the pawl, and press the latter outward against the ratchet-teeth w,- butfby moving the arms or' spurstv3 downward or inward to the bottom of the slots w', the bearings or projections t of the springs pass off of the enlarged part tu4L and enterthe recess at its end, where they no i longer press the pawl outward, but, on the contrary, bear ina direction toward the pivots of the pawls, or even in lines which, extended,

would pass between said pivots and the main axle, and thereby serveJ to hold the pawls by frictional contact out of engagement with the ratchet-teeth. Thus it will be seen that the springs perform the double function of holding the pawls to the ratchets when their engagement is desired, and of holding them away from the ratchets when their engagement is not desired. The arms @03,proj ecting through the plates W', enable the attendant at any time to put the pawls into or out of engagement without removing the wheels or disturbing any other parts. In going to or from the field he can, therefore, readilyungear the entire mechanism by means of these arms w3, leaving the traction-wheels to run loosely on their axle, and, on arriving at the field, amoments time serves to put the parts all in gear by the simple operation of moving the arms wa outward in their slots. To prevent the springs from getting out of adjustment with relation to the pawls, the latter are provided with a thin lug or blade, c2, which ts against the face of the disk W, between the spring and the disk,and which,moving with the pawl,

keeps the spring in the proper relation there:A

to. I am not aware that this contrivance or its functional equivalent has ever before been known or used in mechanics, and I therefore do not limit it to harvesters only, but desire to protect it for use in all kinds of machinery to which it may bejapplicable. An inferior equivalent of the constructionl of spring-pawls above described may be obtained by omitting the arms fuis, and moving the pawls by inserting a fork to embrace them, or a pointed instrument to enter a hole or cavity in their side. In such case any suitable guide or 'stop may be provided to guide and limit the movement of the pawls from one adjustment to the other. Nor do I limit this part of my IIO io of Patent No. 293,767,

5 convenience I prefer to lock the pawls out of gear by the springs, as well as to hold them in gear by the same means.

The peculiar pawls and co-operating parts herein shown and described form the subject granted to me February 19, 1884.

Having thus described my improvements, I claim as new l. The main frame consisting of the elon- I5 gated tubular portion to accommodate the crank-shaft, the transverse tubular portion by which it is pivoted on the main aXle, and the lateral extension or arm provided with a head to be attached to the casting which supports or 2o guides the tongue, substantially as described.

2. In a harvester, the eombination,with the main frame of the machine and its platform, of

the front and rear coupling-bars, connected, resp ectively, t0 the front and rear ofthe frame and platform,the lever mounted in the main frame, 25 and the connections between said lever and the front and rear coupling-bars, whereby both coupling-bars are either raised or lowered by the operation of the lever, substantially as described. 3o

3. In a harvester, the combination,with the main frame, ofthe removablehanger supported at the rear of the main frame, and the tumbling-rod,sprocket-wheel,clutch, and lever for operating the clutch, all mounted upon the 3 5 hanger, whereby the attachment or detachment of the hanger to or from the main frame will effect the attachment or detachment of all the parts carried by it, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

LEWIS MILLER.

Vitnesses:

N. N. LEoHNER, L. C. MILES. 

